


Where the Waves Meet the Sand

by lilmaeval



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Beaches, Established Relationship, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, That one trope where the people go into the ocean with all their clothes on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27606458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilmaeval/pseuds/lilmaeval
Summary: When Nagisa asked Jun out on a date, Jun wasn’t really quite sure what to expect. The weather forecast was bleak, and yet they were headed out in the direction of a secluded village overlooking the ocean. Holding onto Nagisa’s hand tightly, Jun could only hope they’re not going where he thinks they’re going.
Relationships: Ran Nagisa/Sazanami Jun
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Where the Waves Meet the Sand

Overcast grey skies blanketed the world in darkness, blotting out the sun as if it were hiding from a parent’s prying eyes. Clouds seemed to move slowly miles above where Jun stood, and static clung to the hairs on the back of his neck, making them stand on end. The hand holding his own tugged him along, pulling amber eyes away from the dreary view and instead towards the person he was with.

Walking along cracked concrete pavement made of small bricks on a path with a decreasing number of buildings as they went along, Jun found his attention drawn to the flowing white mane of hair that danced in his direction. The grip on his palm was tight, and the aroma of apples from the other person’s shampoo briefly distracted all of Jun’s other senses aside from scent. A black ocean met the gloomy sky upon the horizon, waves small and trickling as they pathetically collapsed against coarse beige sands. Between them all, however, Jun could only focus on the figure guiding him to those things. As though Jun were being dragged into the underworld, he could have been mistaken the grand silhouette for god.

“Nagi-senpai,” he addressed the senior quietly, receiving no response or slow down. The wind brushed hard against Jun’s cheek, and so he jumped closer to his senior with his other hand reaching for the man’s shoulder. “Nagi-senpai, hey, what’re we doing here?”

The leader halted in his tracks, red eyes peering down at Jun. They held no malice, yet the junior couldn’t help but feel a strong shiver go down his spine at the sight of them. They were darker than their usual gentle shade that could be mistaken for orange in some light. Without any in the world, however, they might as well have been the color fresh blood. Jun’s grip on Nagisa’s shoulder weakened slightly, only to find his senior taking it in his other hand.

A memory coursed through Jun’s mind and landed in his fingertips that were currently being held captive, and unable to help himself, he let out a yelp. The noise, followed by brief trembling, caught the senior who’d touched him off guard, and the hold on his skin loosened considerably. In a daze, Jun didn’t realize he’d been let go until he watched Nagisa take a step back altogether. Jun’s throat clogged up with his own cowardice, unable to swallow down his tension and not brave enough to recapture those cold hands in his own.

“Sorry,” Jun mumbled with eyes lowered to the floor. Cement bricks met with sand from the shore, which had eroded into the cracks and lifted some of them from where they were originally placed. It was impossible to stand evenly in the center, forming a small barrier between he and Nagisa who stood on the other side. Even if Jun wanted to, he couldn’t bring himself to cross it, and Nagisa was as unmoving as the large rocks that jutted out from the ocean behind him.

“...There’s no need to apologize,” Nagisa reassured in that horribly soothing voice which somehow did nothing to ease Jun’s nerves. “...I was concerned you were going to fall. This road has been neglected for decades, it appears.”

Nagisa continued forward without reaching for Jun, leaving the junior to follow at a further distance from before. All the while, he couldn’t stop himself from clenching his hands into fists, wondering why on earth he was even here. The wind grew harsher and bit at his face, squinting in an attempt to shield his eyes and covering them with his arm. Nagisa moved, as though unaffected; considering everything else about him, maybe he was. 

“Nagi-senpai,” Jun called out, raising his voice and feeling the flem stick to the back of his throat. “What’re you doing? Why’re we at the beach? Summer’s over an’ the weather ain’t exactly nice~”

“...Mm, that’s why I wanted to come today,” Nagisa replied, his soft voice still somehow audible despite the loud weather. Maybe it was actually being amplified in some strange effect, as though the wind was carrying his naturally melodic tone directly to Jun’s ear. “...There’s fewer people, so it’s easier to roam.”

Jun watched as Nagisa approached the water licking at the shore, hands held behind his back in a similar fashion to the way Hiyori walked when he was plotting something devious. Nagisa, however, seemed to hold no such thought; at least, Jun couldn’t imagine that would be the case. His senior stopped, bent forward, and picked up something in his hand. Squatting down rather than rising back to his feet, he turned his head back towards Jun with an expectant glance. Jun let out a frustrated grunt while it could still go unheard and headed over, standing on the side furthest from the ocean and gripping his knees while he lowered himself.

Nagisa was holding a shell in his hand. A scallop, one that was loose and still had a pretty sheen on the inside that glistened slightly even without much light to do so. Nagisa was staring at it intensely with the faintest upturn of his lips, as though instead of studying a plain object he had found an incredible treasure. Maybe in Nagisa’s world, it was. That world where even someone as unimportant as Jun in the grand scheme of things was somehow worthy to join Nagisa along his journey across the shore. The junior could complain all he wanted in his head about the cold hitting his exposed arms and having to draw his over shirt tighter around his waist to conserve what warmth he could hold onto, but wouldn’t dare say he didn’t want to be here.

The dark eyes from earlier were somewhat light again. Nowhere near the bright and gentle shade they could be, but certainly a more calming color that suited the man better. Gentle locks of silver-white were blown back by the wind and away from his face, as though it were trained to hit him in the most flattering angles possible. Jun could believe it, actually. Whether it be due to luck or providence, Nagisa seemed to stand as a central pillar of the universe. His immense gravity, ever expanding and strong, brought everything into his arms gradually, and Jun wasn’t really sure how he managed to be one of the few closest to watch.

“...It’s pretty,” Nagisa hummed, the smile on his face growing more prominent. Seeing such a gentle face upon a figure as grand and terrorizing as Nagisa could get made out to be felt almost taboo.

More than that, it was unhealthy for Jun’s heart to see the way such a stoic façade melt into a childishly happy expression. Cute. Too goddamn cute. Such a giddy and excited reaction to a dirty shell on the ground, enough to make Jun wonder if he was the idiot for not noticing something incredible about it. There wasn’t, however. The only amazing thing that had ever happened involving the scallop was that it was now being held by Nagisa Ran, who seemed so pleased with its existence that he decided to pocket it away inside the folds of his green shirt. The one that was unbuttoned yet tucked in enough for the outer layer to puff out, making it unintentionally great for storing things. On a surface level, that was; Jun wasn’t so sure how easily it kept the items Nagisa put in there, and he’d heard tales of people having to help find things he’d lost. Despite that, Jun couldn’t help but want to put his own hands in there, feeling horribly jealous of the fact that the shell would get to rest itself so peacefully against Nagisa’s side.

It wasn’t as though Jun couldn’t. Rather, it wasn’t impossible for him to find a place in the senior’s arms. It had happened before, and it might even happen again. Certainly, he had his shot now, being the only one within Nagisa’s field of vision. In fact, Nagisa was continuously flicking his attention back and forth between the dusty shoreline and Jun’s face as the two began to walk side by side along the roadless northern direction. Jun’s hand was at his side, fingers twisting themselves together while he noted Nagisa’s hands were still tied behind his back.

A brush of cool against the back of Jun’s hand sent a chill down the junior‘s spine, causing him to turn his head down to see what was touching it. Nagisa’s hand was just millimeters away, no longer reaching out but not pulling away either. Jun lifted his head and caught Nagisa staring at him, his gentle face forming what could have been a pleading expression with how his eyebrows were raised. The clog in Jun’s throat vanished, and the junior let his palm grasp the cold one that begged to meet it. Their fingers laced far too naturally together, and Jun couldn’t get out of his head the desire to lean on Nagisa’s shoulder.

Despite how silent the two were, it was as though they were having a thousand conversations at once. Despite how Jun couldn’t really read Nagisa at all, and despite how Jun’s painfully jittery nature sabotaged his own desire to get closer, it was like they understood everything without needing to say a word. He couldn’t tell if he hated or appreciated it. He didn’t want Nagisa to respect his boundaries anymore. As much as he hated sudden touches, as long as it was Nagisa, he didn’t care. He wanted the man to pull Jun into his arms and press him against a hard chest with a heart that matched its beat to Jun’s own. He wanted a cool hand to run its long fingers through Jun’s short blue hair and to make him feel small while Jun buried himself in the man’s shoulder. He wanted to say he was sorry for being the person that he was, for keeping the two apart even as Nagisa continuously wished for them to be closer.

Yet it was like Nagisa didn’t mind any of that. Somehow, the man held no frustration for who Jun was; unfathomably patient, like a saint. He continued to give Jun opportunities, ones that prompted the junior to take the initiative, and at this point it couldn’t have been done out of ignorance to Jun’s feelings. Despite Jun claiming himself unable to put them in the position he wanted to be in, there were still chances he took. Taking a hand that was offered to him, exchanging glances and walking a little closer together; they were all risks Jun could take, and Nagisa was asking him to be the one to take more. Not because Nagisa didn’t want to, but because he wanted Jun to be comfortable above all else. Nagisa was respecting him, and Jun felt unworthy.

“...Ah.” Jun nearly missed the utterance until he realized Nagisa had stopped walking, turning his head to the senior and seeing his gaze stuck to the ground.

A big, dusty abalone shell stuck out of the ground, loose and forgotten by whatever creature once called it home. Nagisa squatted to retrieve it, and Jun followed. They watched as sand poured out of its disc, open for them to see the faint color within.

“...Jun, could you hold onto this?” Nagisa relinquished his grasp on Jun’s hand and handed the junior his phone. Confused by the action, Jun didn’t even notice when Nagisa stood up and walked over to the dry sand on the shore, kicking off his shoes and socks. It was only once the man began to roll up his pantlegs and walk toward the ocean that Jun finally put the pieces together.

“Ah—wait, Nagi-senpai!” Jun attempted to reach out, but found his grasp evaded by the determined senior.

Jun gawked, watching in horror as the whimsically-natured man determinedly walked into the cold ocean. Jun’s hand that was still held out to the other twitched before falling back down to the hand clutched at his chest.

“Can’t we wait until we find like a sink to do that in?” Jun asked, frustration welling up but not to a degree that could bring him to follow the other in yet.

“...There’s no need,” Nagisa declined, “we stand within the origin of life itself. As this creature was born within its waters and fed throughout its existence by its tides, it feels appropriate to polish its shell free of the hardships of its life within the place of its birth. Cleansing it of its death, and giving it a chance to shine anew now that it has become no more than an inanimate object to be appreciated for all of time. I think that’s beautiful, to leave something for the world to enjoy even as you’ve moved on. I want to give its death meaning, and I want to do so respectfully.”

Jun didn’t know what to do but sigh. It was just in Nagisa’s nature to find something so meaningless as a shell and see it as an opportunity to attend to it as if it were the most magical thing in the world. Jun shut his eyes and took in a deep breath, attempting to calm his spiking nerves. When he opened them, he saw Nagisa, standing in knee-high cold water, leaning forward and brushing the dust off of the large shell. Silvery white locks collapsed around his form, yet they never seemed to get in Nagisa’s way. Miraculous, just as everything about him was.

There wasn’t much to be concerned about then, right? Jun was being paranoid because he was thinking too logically, and Nagisa wasn’t a logical being. No one like him should even exist, and Jun certainly shouldn’t be the type of person to know him. However, the longer Nagisa stood in the ocean, the rippling waves seemingly becoming larger with each pass, the less Jun could stand to stay where he was. Swearing under his breath, he rushed over to where Nagisa had abandoned his shoes and socks and shoved his own off, placing both of their phones within them. As Jun walked towards the water, he attempted to lift his pantlegs as much as he could before letting his foot take a plunge into the icy trickle of water.

“Goddamn!” Jun exclaimed, lifting his pants further by his knees. “Nagi-senpai, how the hell can you stand it in here? Ain’t you cold?”

“...Hm?” Nagisa turned his head back and stilled, watching Jun move. “...I didn’t say you had to join me. You can go back to the shore, I should be done momentarily.”

“Argh,” Jun grunted, making his way through the stupidly cold waves and eventually finding a spot at Nagisa’s side, toes slowly sinking into the sand below. “I can’t do that, I’m worried about you.”

“...Why?” Nagisa asked, and Jun was forced to ask himself the same question. The longer he thought of an answer, the more  _ he _ felt like the senseless one. “...Did you think I would drown? I haven’t gone that deep in the water for that to be a concern, I don’t think.”

“I...” Jun gripped his pants tightly and stared down at the darkness below, unable to even see the floor he was standing upon. “No, that’s not what I’m worried about. It’s too cold, you’ll hurt yourself being in here too long. You’ll get sick. You may be strong, Nagi-senpai, but you’re still human. I’m not gonna take you home and have both Ibara and Ohii-san on my case just because you wanted to get your feet wet.”

Jun regretted the words the moment he said them. Speaking about Hiyori and Ibara like that, talking as though he only cared about what they thought—once again, he was the one furthering the distance between them. He could have just said what he was really thinking, but like a coward once again, he couldn’t do it.  _ I’m worried that you’ll get sick. I can’t stand the thought that I had a chance to save you and didn’t do anything. I don’t want to risk seeing you unwell. I don’t want to see you unable to do what you love. _ The thoughts remained trapped in Jun’s mind, and his trembling lower lip remained too limp to move further.

“...I see,” Nagisa acknowledged. Jun didn’t want to meet those eyes that were staring at him, but like a child, he couldn’t help but peek. Nagisa was smiling at him, but his eyes didn’t hold any joy. No, he felt the gap in between them too well. Jun lowered his head again, nothing but shame at his own incompetence welling up. “...I think I understand. Let’s go back together.”

Once again, Nagisa was the one asking for Jun’s help in bridging the two together. Holding his hand out, showing no signs of moving until it was taken. Jun traced the lines of that perfect palm, somehow callous-free despite years of exploring a hobby in excavating. Jun lifted his chin slowly and reached out, when something off in the horizon caught his eye. No; it wasn’t the horizon at all. It was much closer. A wave, one that had lowered the water level around their knees to somewhere near their ankles. In equivalent exchange, the one before them was massive, almost as tall as Jun himself. How it formed when all other waves before then had been nothing more than gentle rolls across the surface, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was, he didn’t want Nagisa to take the brunt of the wave.

He wasn’t sure what it was. A spark of courage that lingered within him, only coming to life the moment he spotted a chance to be self-sacrificial. It wasn’t a pleasant idea to think about, so Jun didn’t bother and instead focused on moving. He grabbed Nagisa’s shoulders, jumped in front of the man and pressed himself to Nagisa’s chest. Then, paralyzing cold forced him further into an open grasp as the wave pushed him in, retreat impossible and not even on Jun’s mind. All he could think to do was hold onto Nagisa as tightly as he was now being held.

The wave passed, and the ocean retreated back in the way it had done so before. No further waves of that size seemed to form, and why it had done so in the first place, Jun wasn’t sure. All he knew was, he was a freezing, shivering mess, and Nagisa wasn’t letting go of him. One hand around his waist, the other traveling up his back until it landed in his hair, petting him gently.

“...Jun,” Nagisa called, stopping himself as he turned his head. “...You’re crying.”

Was he? Jun hadn’t even noticed. The moment he did, however, the tears only fell further. Ugly sniffling noises escaped him, and Jun could only think to retreat into the shoulder his face was pressed against. Nagisa didn’t reject him in the slightest, only squeezing him tighter until it felt like Jun couldn’t breathe. If he passed out like this, he could probably die happy. He managed to do it, after all. He managed to embrace the person he adored with all his heart.

“...It’s alright,” Nagisa offered, the smile in his voice audible. “...Thank you, Jun, for protecting me. I wish I could have done the same for you. Ah, I know. If you get sick, then I’ll take care of you.”

“Unh,” Jun uttered, his nails digging deeper into the fabric around Nagisa’s shoulders. “I don’t know if you will though. I’m sure Nagi-senpai could do anything if he puts his mind to it, but Ohii-san would probably try and do that instead.” Lips no longer shivering despite the cold, and throat no longer too dry to speak, he continued. “But...I’d like it if Nagi-senpai nursed me.” The image of Nagisa dressed like a nurse from a costume store popped inside Jun’s head, and he couldn’t help but let out a groan at his own dirty mind ruining a sentimental moment.

“...Fufu,” Nagisa chuckled, swaying a little with Jun in his arms. “...I think what might be best is if we both get sick. Then, Hiyori-kun and Ibara can take care of us both. Don’t you think so?”

“Um~” Jun couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the idea, shaking his head. “No, no way, don’t try and  _ actually _ get sick on me, Nagi-senpai.” Still held tight as ever in the senior’s arms, Jun’s breathing rhythm slowed until he found the words he’d been wanting to say all day. “Nagi-senpai...I...I wanna thank you for choosin’ me to be with you today. It made me real happy when you asked. I wasn’t really sure what I expected, cuz I can’t really predict you at all. At the end of the day though, I don’t regret any of this. I’m just happy you wanted to be with me at all.”

“...I’m happy I’m with you too, Jun.”

Nagisa’s face drew closer, and Jun lifted his head to meet it. He accepted the kiss without question, having been wanting it for just as long. The way they were holding onto each other so tightly was really beginning to hurt, and the water clinging to their bodies remained uncomfortably damp as ever, but Jun couldn’t care in the slightest about anything else. Jun was with Nagisa, being held and kissed passionately by him as the clouds briefly parted to shine a gentle ray of sun upon their union. There was nowhere else Jun would rather be than with Nagisa then and there as the calm waves carried them to the shore.

**Author's Note:**

> I woke up this morning and said “I am going to write nagijun” and then I did. You’re welcome.
> 
> Twt: @nagisenpai


End file.
